When politicos and business leaders announce that they are convening the “best and brightest” you can rest assured that nothing good will come of it, particularly if you happen to be a bee. In a laughable attempt to show that they really care about destroying the bee population of Europe with their pesticides, Bayer claims to have discovered the “real” culprit: the Varroa Mite. On behalf of bee-lovers everywhere I send this open note to Bayer: Bite Me!

While honey bees are susceptible to many threats, like beetles and bacterial diseases, a growing body of research has focused on neonicotinoids. In October, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences examined how Bayer’s clothianidin “adversely affects the insect immune response and promotes replication of a viral pathogen in honey bees bearing covert infections.”

Twenty varroa mites, he said, can turn into 1,200 in a matter of months. “Only one mite is necessary to kill more or less a whole colony,” he added (i.e. Mr. Tritschler, a beekeeper, making a cameo appearance on behalf of Bayer).

Standing nearby, Utz Klages, a corporate spokesman (for Bayer), said “we have all the experts here.”

“We will not solve the problem tomorrow, no doubt about that, but together I think we can develop some innovative solutions.”

Now, if the brakes of an automobile manufacturer were causing a few fatalities, the Lords of Public Safety would order an immediate recall in the best interests of the public. Sadly for bees, Bayer toxins will not be recalled because politicians still relish the honey provided by lobbyists and their corporate sponsors. Sometime “tomorrow” the problem might be solved, but by then there may be no bees left to sting the collective conscious of Bayer’s scientists.

Can we really afford to wait until the food chain is thoroughly altered by what can only be called corporate genocide?